Testimonials

​My son Jonathon Niemi was diagnosed with Dyspraxia with visual problems by The Glasgow Dyslexic Institute in 2002, aged 9. I found the details of the Vision Therapy treatment offered by Mr Bill Hay, Jenson and Ledingham Opticians, Aberdeen online, and as we live in Aviemore, Inverness-shire, this was only 100 miles away. I arranged a consultation to see what was offered. Jonathon was examined by Mr Hay and we were told that he could treat Jonathon, but he would need to work with a neuro-developmental therapist first. This took a year of various exercises being performed on a daily basis, we were then re-referred back to Mr Hay. Jonathon was then scheduled for vision therapy treatment in the summer of 2003. This comprised of a number of tests being performed before the treatment started, 20 x 1 hour sessions (twice daily for 2 weeks) and the initial tests being repeated on the last session. I was present for both sets of tests. The difference in the tests was amazing, with Jonathon’s field of vision increasing from a circle approximately the size of 10p piece to full page size. The dyspraxia was resolved once his vision was back to normal. As a result of the Vision therapy, Jonathon was taken off the Special Needs list, and continued to thrive in his school environment. He progressed to High School, where there was no need to tell them of his previous dyspraxia. He obtained 7 standard grades and 4 Highers at High School and went on to be offered a place at Robert Gordon University to do Surveying.

I was extremely pleased with the treatment given to Jonathon, and I have no doubt that Jonathon would not have achieved his potential without it. Mr Bill Hay provided a very professional and much needed therapy.

- J. Niemi

​In 2012 the school our daughter attends said that she might benefit from vision therapy. She found reading very difficult, skipped lines and became tired and frustrated after a relatively short period of time. In addition, she enjoyed sport but found catching a ball difficult.

As a result of these issues she lacked confidence. We live near Arbroath and found Jenson and Ledingham Opticians through the internet. We spoke to Mr Hay about the problems that Hannah was having and he undertook an assessment of the issues. The initial report confirmed a lot of the observations we had made ourselves and that Hannah’s teachers had identified.

Mr Hay explained the issues that he could help with through glasses and vision therapy, what it would involve and how long it would take. The treatment involved a week of two appointments a day and then less frequent appointments with exercises to do at home. Mr Hay explained that the majority of the exercises he was suggesting were outside what would be available on the NHS but that he had found them to be useful in similar cases.

Many of the issues are difficult to quantify but after about 2 months of treatment we saw a very marked improvement in Hannah’s reading. This encouraged her to continue with the exercises at home which reaped further benefits. Rather than finding the repeated sessions tiresome or difficult, Hannah greatly enjoyed them which re-enforced her enthusiasm to improve her reading. The amazing improvement in Hannah’s reading ability was remarked upon by her teachers.

Over the next 2 years Mr Hay provided additional exercises which he considered would improve Hannah’s reading further. He very much responded to how Hannah had improved and tailor-made his exercises for Hannah. A quantifiable problem that Hannah had was poor peripheral vision; this has improved enormously since doing exercises and Hannah finds it much easier to catch a ball as a result.

All the improvements have helped Hannah from a confidence point of view and we are enormously grateful for the work Mr Hay did for her. It has really changed her life. We travelled regularly from Arbroath to Aberdeen to the appointments over a period and would not hesitate to do this again if necessary.

- Karen

When my son Alex O’Collard was 12 years old, his eyes started to roll and flicker. He found trying to concentrate at school became a problem with his eyes constantly moving. I took him to see an optician in Aberdeen and was told there was nothing they could do. He was becoming self-conscious and distressed and people were commenting on his eyes. It is bad enough being a 12 to 13 year old entering puberty without your eyes rolling too. I took him to see my GP at Scotstown Medical Centre, Dr Paul Rhodes, and he suggested I took Alex to see Bill Hay at Jenson and Ledingham Opticians. Mr Hay initially tried some glasses to try and settle Alex’s eyes. When this didn’t help, Alex embarked on a course of treatment at the vision clinic at Jenson and Ledingham. Within a fortnight, Alex’s eyes had stopped rolling and he was able to concentrate on his school work again. Alex has gone on to excel at school and university with perfect vision, no glasses needed.

I honestly believe that without Mr Hay’s help he would have struggled as nobody else was either prepared or able to help. I have recommended him to people in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

​- Fiona S O’Collard.

I went to see Mr Hay of Jenson & Ledingham initially to help me with problems I was having with my vision and reading. Mr Hay conducted an eye test and I was prescribed with my new glasses.

After a couple of weeks I went back to Mr Hay as I was still having problems with my vision and the ability to read. During this consultation with Mr Hay, we discussed that the problem I was experiencing was not with my sight and suggested ‘Vision Therapy’. The following week I completed an in-depth medical and behavioural questionnaire, which when reviewed, revealed that I would benefit from ‘Vision Therapy’ sessions.

The treatment was 5-days of intense therapy, one session in the morning and one in the afternoon, these sessions included light therapy and exercises for balance and visual perception, this was followed by one-hour weekly sessions. During these sessions Mr Hay and I would go through certain exercises for balance, visual perception and light therapy. I was given exercises to do at home and over time my vision began to improve. After a few months I asked Mr Hay to re-examine my sight again as I felt the glasses initially prescribed to me weren’t right anymore and to my delight the test showed that my eyesight had improved.

​It’s hard to explain to someone who doesn’t have problems with their vision how debilitating poor vision can be and for years I struggled with reading and would never read anything out loud for fear of reading the word wrong and recently double vision, but now my vision is so much better and my confidence in reading has improved tenfold. I would recommend ‘Vision Therapy’ to anyone who has vision difficulties, there is help out there, and you don’t have to struggle in silence.

​After years of suffering with double vision with both long and short distances struggling to drive and read, having non-stop headaches because of it. Having constant trips back and forth to my opticians with no resolve, with referrals back and forth to the hospital for examinations, to be told I just have to exercise my eyes! I was really fed up, unhappy and stressed about it.

After changing opticians hoping to get some help, my new optician decided to refer me to Bill Hay at Jenson and Ledingham. I am so grateful that he did, I was genuinely shocked, surprised and so excited when I sat in the chair and I could see single vision for the first time in about 7 years. I had wasted so much time with the Hospital/NHS where they just could do nothing to help or weren't willing to do anything. Bill Hay took the time to help me prescribe me lenses that worked for me. I now have no headaches, I can drive safely and working at my computer is now a doddle and I feel amazing for it. I will happily refer Jenson and Ledingham to anyone and everyone.

G. Mathieson

This is to confirm that I received visual therapy through William A.K. Hay at ]enson & Ledingham Options, between November 2003 and January 2005.

In April 2003, I suffered from a whiplash injury. This resulted, among others, in symptoms of severe frontal headaches after near work and head movements, and reading inaccuracies. Fatigue came on very easily. For example, near work was possible only one hour, reading was possible for 30 minutes. This was followed by severe frontal headaches, vertigo and focusing problems. My medical doctor reduced my working capacity following the injury to 0 - 250/0.

In a desperate search for help and by recommendation of an associate, I researched on possibilities for the kind of visual therapy Bill Hay provides. Due to lack of appropriate practitioners in Switzerland, I decided to fly to Aberdeen for various segments of treatment. Following the initial treatment, my medical doctor provided a progress report to my insurance company with the comment "significant improvement" fcopy of report available upon request).

As a result, I continue further segments of treatment in pursuit of full restoration. It is due to Bill Hay's professional care that I was able to return to my professional activities at a full scale. In fact, I am currently working on a research and writing project that requires extensive reading, writing and focus.

- Rahel Wolfer.

​I first met Mr Hay back in 2003, after hearing that he was an optician specialised in working with people with Dyslexia. At school I excelled in my practical ability but found reading a huge struggle and exhausting, Suffering from migraines regularly. This had a huge impact on my confidence and often left me very frustrated as always felt I wasn't reaching my full potential. When studying for my standard grade exams the fatigue and migraines became so bad that I had to work my study plan around napping. I passed all 8 standard grades but decided that I wouldn't be able to go on any further at school so I took a job as a trainee hair dresser. I worked as a hairdresser for five years but always had an unsettling feeling that I could of done more with my life. Deep down I had always wondered if I was dyslexic so decided at the age of 21 that I would rather deal with the stigma that goes with dyslexia rather than be held back any more. I went on to be tested to find out that I didn't have dyslexia but it appeared to be more of a reading disorder. The specialist I saw at the time had heard of an optician in Aberdeen who had started specialising in people with dyslexia and could possibly also help someone with my problems.

I had seen opticians in the past due to the migraines I suffered with and did wear glasses but they didn't help me with reading at all. I did feel like I'd probably reached another dead end but was at a point in my life where I would of been grateful for any kind of help as I was sick of feeling stupid, when I knew inside that I wasn't so I contacted Mr Hay's opticians to inquire about the work that he carried out. At first I spoke with his receptionist who then passed me on to Mr Hay himself who went on to explain the work he had been doing and would be happy to see me. I explained to Mr Hay that I had never managed to read a book and had to use a ruler to help me stay on the correct line as without it I'd loose my position quickly resulting in me have to read a page a number of times to obtain any information. Also that the words would move around the page and always appear blurry even with my glasses on. I knew that this could not be normal as no one would actually enjoy reading a book if this were the case for everyone!

After our chat Mr Hay carried out an eye examination which at first was a lot like the others until he added another glass which was like someone had just switched a light on in my head. For the first time I saw print, not fuzzy grey but black and bold. It no longer moved across the page and it wasn't hurting trying to focus. I remember my eyes filling with tears as I was so overwhelmed, it was one of the the best moments of my life. I had glasses fitted with the lenses used and went on to have a programme of vision therapy as I also had a reduced field. This was also very helpful as I'd always been very clumsy, banging into things and suffering from motion sickness. Along with the therapy i was shown exercises into training my eyes to work together which would also help me get out of the bad habits I'd picked up over the years.

In 2006 I qualified with a degree in adult nursing and currently work in ward 216 at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. I have studied further completing and passing the Cardiac rotational programme. I still find my English is poor, this I put down to the gap I have in mylearning. Now that I wear my glasses a retain information much easier where as before it was such a slog. Resulting in I can spell large medical terms but I struggle with words you would learn in primary. I wish I had met Mr Hay sooner as I know 100% it would of made a difference in my academic choices but I'm just grateful that I did find him when I did. I can't emphasise enough how grateful I am to Mr Hay and his team as his treatment truly has changed my life.

- Emily Meehan

My grand-daughter visited Mr Hay as she was struggling at school. Her eyes did not focus correctly for her to be able to read easily. He prescribed prism lenses and within 6 months, her vision was corrected and she no longer needs the special lenses. Special exercises also helped her co-ordination and although still behind at school, there has been significant progress.

Extremely grateful to Mr Hay as this problem was not picked up at the eye clinic.

​- Ailsa Thorp

​From a very young age I always struggled with reading...I found it challenging and difficult. While reading I found letters would jump around and really struggled to focus. As a child I didn't know any better and many of my primary school teachers blamed dyslexia for me not being able to fluently read. I would openly discuss these issues with my parents growing up and had several eye tests however they all said my vision was perfect. Maybe I was dyslexic after all.

Being a determined individual and academically quite bright I made up for this deficiency by putting in addition effort. Often I would stay up memorising material to pass examinations at high school. The main reason for this was spelling. I could not spell and was years behind. All this was down to lack of reading, other than schoolwork I can openly say I read no more than 5 novels my entire life, 2-3 of which I finished in full. Not only could i not read, i was embarrassed with my literacy skills and was a huge personal issue in my teenage years. My mother's a teacher and she was fully aware of my issues.Often she would encourage me to read and would purchase countless books however no matter how much will power I had (to please her mainly) I simply could not read. I gave up. The more I wanted the harder it was. I would force myself to focus on the text however the more strain I put on my eyes the more tired I became. Letters even paragraphs would start jumping around the page, the book would become fully animated. I can only describe it by forcing yourself to go cock eyed continuously in and out of focus then attempt to read a page. I would get to 10 pages of a novel and be physically shattered. My head would be spinning, the back of my eyes would be strained and sore. I can honestly say that reading had negative physical effects on me. It may sound dramatic but it actually made me feel unwell. This gave me no desire or will to read... I admired people who could sit down for hours reading a book... but I knew this just wasn't possible for me.

Anyways on I went and got accepted to the University of Glasgow to study Aerospace engineering. It's not an easy course and the amount of studying & reading required was a whole new level. I couldn't memorise everything to pass the exams and my usual memorisation strategy was failing and by the 3rd year of the course I was struggling, it was too much. I would miss lectures because I was physically exhausted, I would constantly be light headed and the thought of reviewing materials in the evening was a dread. I just wanted to sleep because after a nap I felt normal again,I was no longer dizzy and could actually think. At this point I was doubting my ability and was seriously contemplating dropping out,it was just too hard. I didn't find the material that difficult... its was the quantity of reading and I was struggling with it.

My mother as a teacher had always had a keen interest in my issues, she always knew i struggled and she always belived I wasn't dyslexic, regardless of what other professionals had told her. That year she attended a seminar about children with learning difficulties. By coincidence Bill was there and did a presentation on the work he performs with eye therapy. I believe he is the only optician in the area that is crossing borders and going beyond the the mainstream and interlinking vision and vision therapy to learning difficulties with children. Certainly 10 years ago when I attended this therapy it was unheard of. After this seminar my mother instantly related his theory's to the issues I was experiencing. When she told me I can honestly say I did not belive this could possibly help me, I was not convinced. However through shear desperation and facing dropping out of University I attended a weeks vision therapy with Bill.

On initial diagnosis, with a standard eye test with Bill I had perfect vision... I could read the bottom line off all the cards... This was what I was being told my whole life by your standard high street optician. When we did extensive focusing tests however, the issue was instantly apparent. I was loosing focus within a foot and regaining this focus took nearly two feet. This is the exact range you read a book. I was struggling and my periferal vision was non existent.

We embarked in the most unconventional therapy I know. Shining lights into my eyes, doing speed tests on boards wearing various lenses of different colours... at the time I thought this must be a gimmick but it was fun. What Bill was telling me was true.He was describing my issues then he would say 'try these funny glasses bet this will help'. Sure enough I could read text 4 inches from my nose....I've never been able to do this my entire life. We continued and completed the course and although straining on my eyes after a days rest I could actually read more than 10 pages without getting tired or dizzy. I can honestly say I could not believe the results. That week I read my 1st book in almost 5yr. Over the next six months I continued with Bills exercises training my eyes and the difference was night and day. I honestly belive the therapy and glasses had a big part in me graduating and lead to me have the successful career I have. I don't view Bill as an optician, his work is on par with my GP. Without my glasses I feel unwell.

I will be forever grateful for that day my mother listened to his seminar.

- Joe Rosie

​Neil and I wanted to let you know that this week Jessie is sitting her prelims, something that without your help might not have been possible. We first contacted you when Jessie was in her final primary school year and really struggling, she complained when reading that the words moved around and she was assessed by an educational psychologist who thought she was dyslexic and referred her to vision and learning support. We went back to her optician whom she had attended since age three and who the hospital recommended, she was given a stronger set of lenses. Vision support suggested coloured plastic sheets, none of which seemed to help. We saw a sign in your window offering dyslexia support and picked up some leaflets. I investigated visual support and contacted vision support for advice, whilst they weren't officially allowed to recommend a practitioner they had heard very positive reports about the work you were doing and we decided to give it a go.

Jessie's first visit was remarkable, your machine had broke down and you had to revert to the 'traditional' way of selecting lenses, Jessie couldn't believe it she was able to see better than she ever had, her original prescription had been far too strong. We had also decided to try the visual therapy as the initial assessment was very concerning, it was obvious that there was confusion between her brain and visual functions. Jessie enjoyed the programme and all the exercises she had to do at home. The turning point came when on day three she went to sit at the dining table and suddenly cried out with fascination that she could see the whole table and wondered if I could!

The work you did with Jessie was superb and the support and encouragement much appreciated. You fully understood the problems Jessie was experiencing and tailormade a programme to suit. At Jessie's final assessment the improvement was incredible and at schoolthe teachers we're amazed at the progress Jessie made and by the time she went to the Academy she was reading fluently and learning support was no longer required.

We can't thank you enough for your what you did for Jessie and your knowledge of Visual Therapy and dedication to your patients is second to none and we hope you are able to offer this service to many children in the future.

- Neil and Lisa Mclean

It's easy to take the next step.Call us today to arrange an appointmentor click here to request more information.01224 454 534